Saturday, October 29, 2011

In the second game of a home-and-home with the Montreal Canadiens, Montreal beat the Bruins again, this time the final score was 4-2. The Bruins had spurts where they played with energy and played smart, mainly in the third period, but there were other times where they just let Montreal control the play and took dumb penalties. Yea there were some weak calls on the Bruins but they also took some dumb ones, referring to Milan Lucic, Nathan Horton and Andrew Ference. Again Tuukka Rask got no support in front of him and still remains winless this season as the Bruins remain in last place in the Northeast Division. Even the awful Ottawa Senators have more points than the Bruins. This may be a long season if the Bruins don't wake up soon. Here's the scoring summary of the game.

In the first period, Montreal scored twice, one of them being a power-play goal.

In the second period, Montreal scored another power-play goal making it 3-0. Later Milan Lucic scored his 3rd goal of the season to make it 3-1. Shawn Thornton got into a fight with Travis Moen but not much happened in the fight as both guys didn't really land anything. Moen made sure to get Thornton's jersey over his head so the linesmen could break it up quick.

In the third period, with Tuukka Rask pulled, Tyler Seguin scored his team-leading 4th goal of the season with 55 seconds left in the game to make it 3-2. Tomas Plekanec would seal the game as he scored an empty net goal to make it 4-2.

Game notes
The Bruins led the game in shots 28-26 and hits 27-19. Montreal led the game in faceoff wins 30-26 and blocked shots 29-12. Montreal went 2 for 5 on the power-play while the Bruins went 0 for 1.

Tuukka Rask made 23 saves on 26 shots. Rask is now 0-3 with a 2.71 GAA and a .906 save percentage.

Patrice Bergeron led the Bruins in shots with 5 and in hits with 5.

Dennis Seidenberg led the Bruins in blocked shots with 4.

Onto the next one
The Bruins are now 3-7 this season with 6 points and are in last place in the Northeast Division. The Bruins next game is on Tuesday, November 1st against the Ottawa Senators in Boston. If the Bruins lose against Ottawa on Tuesday, well then all hell may break loose.

There's a report out on Friday saying that Boston Bruins forward Tyler Seguin has a congenital hip condition that makes him more suspect to a injury. Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli would not say much but said there are other Bruins players who have the same condition or something similar.

The condition could lead to an injury that requires surgery and potentially shorten his career, the sources said, but is not a concern for the short-term, nor is it affecting him presently.

The condition increases the likelihood that the 19-year-old Seguin suffers a type of repetitive-stress degenerative hip injury if he isn't proactive about building and maintaining his strength in that area.

"The worst-case scenario is they start to develop recurring symptoms consistent of a groin pull, hip flexor strains, difficulty getting their hips in certain positions, reduced rotation, increase in pain and reduced levels of performance," renown hip expert and surgeon Dr. Bryan Kelly, who has not examined Seguin, said in describing a worst-case scenario for a hockey player who is battling a congenital hip condition.

...

"I'm not going to comment whether it's congenital or not," Chiarelli said. "I don't want to get into details what we think it is or isn't and I don't want any alarm bells going off. Like I said, you can go through our roster and there are probably 12 or 13 guys with something similar or the same thing."

"I'm not going to comment on any of our players' medical conditions that aren't really an issue," added Chiarelli. "We have guys with sore ankles and they play through it, so it's not something I'm going to comment on."

When asked whether he was concerned about Seguin's hip, Chiarelli was clear.

"No, I'm not," he said.

...

Seguin would not confirm the exact nature of his congenital hip condition -- "I don't think I've really said anything to the media about a hip or anything," he said recently. "I don't have anything to say about that" -- but acknowledged he knows he needs to keep up his work in strengthening the area to avoid problems down the road.Source

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Boston Bruins left wing Shawn Thornton, right, checks Montreal Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban in the third period of an NHL hockey game in Boston,Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

With a game built up by so many members of the media, mainly talking about Max Pacioretty's first game against Zdeno Chara and the Boston Bruins since he was injured last season from the Chara hit, this game was a total letdown. The Bruins took the play to Montreal in the first period, controlling the play but Carey Price made some great saves to keep Montreal in the game. After the first period it was all downhill for the Bruins as they looked slow, tired and without energy. I'm not sure how that happens when you haven't played a game since Saturday. The only Bruins players who played with some emotion and energy was Shawn Thornton, Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, Rich Peverley, Tyler Seguin, Tim Thomas and at times Milan Lucic. Zdeno Chara looked lost out there and afraid to hit anyone and have Montreal call the cops. He looked awful out there on the ice. The crowd wasn't into the game at all either, except during and after the Marchand-Subban fight.

In the first period, Patrice Bergeron was credited with his 2nd goal of the season, as Tomas Plekanec won the faceoff in the Montreal end and the puck went through Carey Price's legs and into the net. It was a power-play goal.

In the second period, Erik Cole scored to tie the game for Montreal. It always seems Cole scores when he plays against the Bruins. Also in the second period, Brad Marchand and P.K. Subban tried to fight each other twice but the linesmen kept breaking them up, so the third time they came out of the penalty box and dropped the gloves and the linesmen finally let them go. It was a spirited fight with not many punches landing and lots of ducking by Marchand to avoid Subban's wild rights. Looks like Subban finally learned how to keep his balance during fights.

P.K. Subban vs Brad Marchand

In the third period, Tomas Plekanec scored to make it 2-1.

Some Claude Julien quotes after the game

"Our team is not playing the way it should be or can (play) over the 60 minutes...the execution is not there."

"The inability to focus for 60 minutes is pretty obvious and apparent. You're either focused or you're not...if I had the answer, trust me, I'd correct it."Source

Game notes
Montreal led the game in shots 35-30, hits 18-17 and blocked shots 21-7. The Bruins led the game in faceoff wins 30-29.

The Bruins went 1 for 6 on the power-play. Montreal went 0 for 1 on the power-play.

Tim Thomas played in net and made 33 saves on 35 shots. Thomas is now 3-4 with a 2.14 GAA and a .929 save percentage.

Adam McQuaid returned to the lineup and was -2 in his 14:52 of ice time. Steven Kampfer was scratched.

Tyler Seguin, Rich Peverley and Johnny Boychuk led the Bruins in shots with 4 apiece.

Milan Lucic led the Bruins in hits with 4.

Onto the next one
This was an ugly sloppy game for the Bruins. The good news is that it was only 2-1 and they play Montreal again in two days. Bad news is that Montreal is feeling that they're out of their slump now and Saturday's game is going to be big. Yes, the Bruins next game is on Saturday against these same Montreal Canadiens at 7pm ET in Montreal. We all know it's going to be crazy up there in Montreal with the return of Zdeno Chara so the Bruins got to be ready and wake up.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Today the Bruins announced that they have recalled forward Jordan Caron from Providence (AHL).

He will skate at the team’s practice on Monday, October 24 at 10:30 a.m. at Ristuccia Arena in Wilmington, MA.

Caron was assigned to Providence on Saturday, October 22 and played in the P-Bruins 3-2 loss to Albany on Sunday, October 23, registering one assist. Sunday’s game was Caron’s first appearance in Providence this year.Source

Sunday, October 23, 2011

The Bruins have assigned forward Jordan Caron down to Providence (AHL). Caron hasn't played in the last few games and the Bruins don't play again until Thursday so sending Caron down is probably mainly to get him some playing time. Or it could be that the Bruins are sticking with Benoit Pouliot for that last open forward spot. Caron has played in 4 games and has 0 points, is -2 and had 2 shots.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

San Jose Sharks center Joe Thornton prepares to take a face-off against Boston Bruins center Gregory Campbell during the first period of their 4-2 win in a NHL hockey game in Boston, Saturday, Oct. 22, 2011. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

The Sharks came out taking the play to the Bruins as they scored only 1:12 into the game. Pavelski scored for the Sharks to make it 1-0 with a great shot that got by goalie Tim Thomas. The Bruins had better chances in the first period but couldn't get one past Antti Niemi.

In the second period, Logan Couture scored to make it 2-0 Sharks. Again the Bruins seemed to have better chances but just couldn't get one past Niemi in the period. Shawn Thornton dropped the gloves with Jim Vandermeer and had a good fight with Thornton throwing most of the punches. Decision to Thornton.

In the third period, it broke more open as Milan Lucic scored his 2nd goal of the season to make it 2-1. Only 29 seconds later, Milan Lucic would set up Tyler Seguin for an easy goal as they went in on a 2-on-0 to tie up the game. That was Seguin's 3rd goal of the season. Later in the period, Benn Ferriero scored for the Sharks to make it 3-2. With a minute left in the game the Bruins pulled Thomas and with 5 seconds left Patrick Marleau scored on the empty net to put the game away 4-2.

Game notes
The Bruins led the game in shots 39-29, faceoffs won 34-25 and hits 22-16. The Sharks led the game in blocked shots 21-9.

The Bruins went 0 for 2 on the power-play while the Sharks went 0 for 1.

Tim Thomas played in net and made 26 saves on 29 shots. Thomas is now 3-3 with a 2.15 GAA and a .926 save percentage.

Patrice Bergeron, Joe Corvo and Tyler Seguin had 5 shots apiece to lead the Bruins.

Shawn Thornton led the Bruins in hits with 4.

David Krejci was -2 in the game.

Ex-Bruin Joe Thornton had an assist and was +1.

Onto the next one
The Bruins are now 3-5 this season. Next up for the Bruins is a home-and-home with the 1-5-1 struggling hated Montreal Canadiens. The Bruins host Montreal in Boston on Thursday at 7pm ET. Then on Saturday the Bruins go to Montreal at 7pm ET. It will be interesting to see Zdeno Chara and Max Pacioretty on the ice at the same time. Montreal fans may call the police again if Chara hits Pacioretty in any way. Montreal police department be ready!

Thursday, October 20, 2011

BOSTON, MA - OCTOBER 20: Tim Thomas #30 of the Boston Bruins celebrates the win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on October 20, 2011 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Bruins defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-2. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

What a difference the way the Bruins played tonight compared to their meltdown against the Hurricanes. Tonight the Bruins changed up the forward lines and worked the power-play well going 2 for 5 in the game. David Krejci returned to the lineup which provided a boost and Steven Kampfer was inserted into the lineup. They were also able to shutdown Phil Kessel again. Kessel had 0 points, was -1 and had 1 shot on net. And we got to hear the "Thank you Kessel" chant which is priceless.

Less than two minutes into the game, Shawn Thornton dropped the gloves with tough guy Colton Orr in a good even fight which really got the crowd going. This was Orr's first fight since his fight against George Parros last season where he sustained a concussion and missed the rest of the season. The Leafs would score first as Dave Steckel scored to make it 1-0 Leafs. Later, on the power-play, off a faceoff, Andrew Ference retrieved the puck passed over to Zdeno Chara who took a big shot, Nathan Horton came in and got the rebound and put it past Jonas Gustavsson to tie the game 1-1. That was Horton's 2nd goal of the season. Less than six minutes later, the Bruins were on the power-play again, and Chara one-timed a Ference pass and put it up and by Gustavsson to make it 2-1 Bruins. What a shot that was by Chara as he scored his 1st goal of the season. Less than two minutes later, Chris Kelly scored his 2nd goal of the season as he stayed with the puck and on his third shot on the play he got it in the net to make it 3-1.

In the second period, no scoring happened.

In the third period, Milan Lucic scored his 1st goal of the season from a beautiful pass from Tyler Seguin, to make it 4-1. Later in the period, Patrice Bergeron scored his 1st goal of the season on a wrist shot that beat Gustavsson's glove side, to make it 5-1. Later Lucic returned the favor to Seguin with a sweet pass in the slot to Seguin who roofed the puck over Gustavsson's glove side to make it 6-1. That was Seguin's 2nd goal of the season. A little later the Bruins defense broke down and Mikhail Grabovski scored to make it 6-2. Grabovski had a lot of chances in the game and finally buried one of them.

Again in this game there were a lot of questionable penalties to both teams. The Bruins killed all three penalties they took.

Game notes
The Bruins led the game in shots 43-28 and faceoff wins 38-29. The Leafs led the game in hits 27-18 and blocked shots 20-19.

Tim Thomas played in net and made 26 saves on 28 shots. Thomas is now 3-2 with a 1.98 GAA and a .932 save percentage.

Onto the next one
The Bruins are now 3-4 this season. The Bruins next game is on Saturday against the struggling San Jose Sharks who are 1-3 this season. The game is at 7pm ET in Boston. Joe Thornton will be back in Boston. If you remember last season, Thornton had some comments about Boston and how the Bruins don't get disciplined.

Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton both did not face the media after the awful game on Tuesday night. Today they did and told why they didn't want to face the media after the loss against Carolina.

As the media circled around Horton, a clearly frustrated Lucic took time to explain himself as well and admitted that he didn’t want to face the media Tuesday night for fear his temper and frustration would cause him to say something stupid or that he may regret.

“Yeah, that was basically it and nothing more than that,” Lucic told ESPNBoston.com.

Lucic has scored only five goals in his past 40 games (including playoffs) since March 22, when he scored his 30th goal of 2010-11 season. Lucic, who hasn't lit the lamp in six games this season, acknowledged frustration has settled in, but was still willing to accept blame for his poor start this season. Lucic knows he isn’t doing what he needs to do to be the player he can be.

“It’s not fun when you’re not helping your team and not producing and I think that’s the frustrating point from my side,” Lucic said. “I think it’s not even about goals and assists right now. You just look at shots on net and I think I only have 12 or something like that, which is an average of two per game and that’s just the first part I should look at. I need to work harder to get myself more opportunities. Get shots and scoring opportunities. It all starts with moving my feet and it kind of feels watching video of my game that there’s a bit of hesitation in my game and I just need to look at that and completely get that out, getting back to that north-south type of game that I find success with.”

...

“I think having a little more confidence with the puck and wanting the puck and holding onto it,” Horton told ESPNBoston.com. “That’s how you make plays and that gets me more involved in the game.”

...

“I do obviously," Horton said when asked if regretted losing his cool at that point, "and I didn’t want to take a 4-minute penalty but when I got slashed from behind and I turned around, I thought he wanted to fight me.

"But again that was probably the wrong time to do it and out of frustration I did do it. If I could change it now, I would, but unfortunately I can’t and I really put my team in a hole.”

Horton's frustration was still seething after the game Tuesday night and, like Lucic, he chose not to let that cause him to say something he would regret.

“It was a frustrating night for a lot of people and I just wanted to turn page and forget about it,” Horton said. “I don’t want to be out there hurting my team like that, I just got to get back to playing the way I can and help my team.”Source

Today it was announced that defenseman Matt Bartkowski was sent down to Providence (AHL). Bartkowski played in 3 games this season, averaged 6:07 of ice time and was a -2. He definitely looked like he wasn't ready for the NHL, to me at least. This move means that Steven Kampfer should be ready to play tonight against the Leafs, while Adam McQuaid is still not 100%.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

BOSTON, MA - OCTOBER 18: Nathan Horton #18 of the Boston Bruins and Tim Gleason #6 of the Carolina Hurricanes fight in the third period on October 18, 2011 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Boston Bruins 4-1. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

If you read this blog at all then you know I love the rough side of hockey, the hits and hockey fights. But what we watched tonight with the Bruins was frustration and it was very frustrating to watch them tonight. The refs didn't help either with some questionable calls but you can't blame them for the Bruins mistakes and the bad penalties they took. The frustration boiled over tonight and the Bruins took it out on the soft Hurricanes. The Canes would beat the Bruins 4-1 and the Bruins have a lot of work ahead of them.

In the first period, Anthony Stewart scored to make it 1-0 Canes.

In the second period, Joni Pitkanen scored to make it 2-0 Canes. With less than six minutes in the period, Nathan Horton and Jay Harrison were shoving and pushing each other in front of the Canes net. Zdeno Chara came flying in and instigated a fight with Harrison. He would be the only one to throw punches and he some good uppercuts in as Harrison hung on for dear life. After the fight, goalie Cam Ward skated over to Chara and had some words for him. You could see Chara say "huh?" and lean in to hear Ward, and then Chara had some words for him too. Then everyone was grabbing onto each other, Lucic grabbing two Canes players who wanted nothing to do with Lucic. If you see the replay watch Alexei Ponikarovsky. The guy is 6'4" and gets out of there as fast as possible and leaves a smaller Canes player there to deal with Lucic. What a teammate. Tuukka Rask came down the ice to have a word with Ward and they exchanged some words but it seemed like calm words.

In the third period, Rich Peverley scored a power-play goal for the Bruins to make 2-1. A little later, Milan Lucic would try and get at Tim Gleason but Gleason wouldn't want anything to do with Lucic. Bryan Allen came over and hugged on Lucic, who also didn't want to fight Lucic. Chris Kelly and Brett Sutter would drop the gloves and have a good fight with Kelly knocking down Sutter with a punch. One minute after all of this, Nathan Horton would just lose it and he went after Gleason. Gleason turtled and Horton tried to get at him with a linesman between them while Gleason stayed down and covered up. Watching the replay it just looked like Gleason pushed Horton, nothing too serious, but Horton lost his cool and took a bad double-minor and also got a 10-minute misconduct for not stopping when the linesmen got in there. After the Horton-Gleason incident, the refs started calling everything on the Bruins that they thought would cause more scrums. Chara would get called for high-sticking because of a good sell-job by Skinner. Brad Marchand would get a 10-minute misconduct and gone from the game for a little jab at Skinner. Dennis Seidenberg got called for boarding. Later, Lucic would get a 10-minute misconduct for pushing Gleason. Bruins coach Claude Julien would also get thrown out of the game, apparently for shaking his head at the ref after the Lucic misconduct. Eric Staal and Tuomo Ruutu would score power-play goals to make it 4-1. Staal had an "Ovechkin moment" as after his goal he skated to the glass screaming at Bruins fans and then slamming the glass with his hands. Stay classy Staal.

After the game
More on the Cam Ward talking to Zdeno Chara and Tuukka Rask "chats" as after the game Ward was talking more.

"The guy's 8 feet tall, and he's jumping a player. That doesn't translate as being very tough in my eyes," Ward told reporters after the game. "I'm emotional just like everybody else. When you see that happening to your own players, you wanna ... you know, I had some choice words, too, but it is what it is."

...

"I was surprised, but I didn't take it as a serious threat, so you know, it is what it is. I don't even know what was said. My heart rate didn't get up or anything. Basically, I told him to get down and back into his own net ... and he did."

Those weren't even Ward's most eye-catching quotes, either. According to Hurricanes.com writer Michael Smith, Ward had a pretty stern assessment of the situation when talking to FS Carolina's Bob Harwood.

"I'm not gonna waste my time with Tuukka Rask," Ward reportedly said to Harwood.Source

So according to Cam Ward, if one of your star scorers who is returning from a concussion, is being pushed around and almost getting into a fight with someone you just let him fight and possibly risk another concussion or possible injury? Maybe that is "Canes hockey."

Cam Ward must be use to soft Canes hockey. If another goalie tries to mess with your teammates, you go down the ice and have a chat with him and maybe knock some sense into him. Gleason taught Ward well. Keep talking and turtle when you have to.

Unlike Ward, Tuukka Rask showed some class when answering questions about the "chat" he had with Ward.

@MurphysLaw74: When asked what he said to Cam Ward, Tuukka Rask said "I asked why he jumped my guys?"

"We have to take responsibility for our own actions here," Julien said. "The easy thing is to point out at everybody. And I think what I saw from tonight is that we start off the game well. In the first period we had some great chances, but we're not capitalizing. And what I see is frustration setting in and the minute we start getting frustrated we lose focus on our game and then it gets worse and worse. And that's been a bit of a pattern this year."

"I would rather we look at ourselves and take the responsibility and fix that because the referees didn't lose the game for us tonight," Julien added. "We lost the game ourselves. We got ourselves back in the game and then we end up with a four-minute penalty and other penalties followed after that, and it just got worse."Source

Game notes
The Bruins led the game in shots 34-23, faceoff wins 35-32 and hits 29-18. The Hurricanes led the game in blocked shots 16-14. The Bruins went 1 for 4 on the power-play while the Hurricanes went 2 for 5.

Tuukka Rask played in net and got little support again. Rask made 19 saves on 23 shots. Rask is now 0-2 with a 2.52 GAA and a .915 save percentage.

Matt Bartkowski played in place of Adam McQuaid again and again he looked like he needs more time in the AHL. Hopefully Steven Kampfer is ready soon for game action.

Joe Corvo and Andrew Ference both led the Bruins with 5 shots on net.

Milan Lucic and Johnny Boychuk both led the Bruins with 6 hits each.

Onto the next one
The Bruins are now 2-4 this season. The Bruins next game is on Thursday, hosting Phil Kessel and the Toronto Maple Leafs at 7pm ET in Boston. It should be a good one.

The Bruins were trailing 2-1 to the Blackhawks entering the third period but they would tie the game up and send it into overtime. Overtime would end without anyone scoring and then the shootout came. Tim Thomas would stop Jonathan Toews, Tyler Seguin would score by going five-hole on Corey Crawford, Thomas would stop Patrick Kane, Patrice Bergeron would lose the puck when he started his deke and not get a shot on net and Thomas would stop Patrick Sharp to win it for the Bruins.

In the first period, Bryan Bickell scored to give the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead. Bickell had a breakaway from stealing a bad Andrew Ference pass out of the defensive zone. Gregory Campbell dropped the gloves with Jamal Mayers in the first period as well. It was the first Bruins fighting major this season. Both guys looked to land a few but no real damage. I would give this one a draw.

In the second period, Chris Kelly scored a shorthanded goal, his 1st goal of the season, on a two-on-one from a beautiful pass by Rich Peverley to tie the game 1-1. Later, Patrick Kane scored to make it 2-1 Blackhawks.

In the third period, Nathan Horton scored his 1st goal of the season. The play was actually offside but the refs didn't catch it and the Bruins got lucky on that one. The whole play was created by Johnny Boychuk, who dumped the puck in, chased it down and retrieved it, came around the net and passed to Horton who was crashing the net and Horton put it behind Crawford.

Game notes
The Bruins led the game in shots 37-29, faceoff wins 36-34 and hits 40-34. Both teams went 0 for 3 on the power-play.

Tim Thomas played in net and made 27 saves on 29 shots. Thomas is now 2-2 with a 1.98 GAA and a .932 save percentage.

Matt Bartkowski played in place of Adam McQuaid and looked a little shaky at times in only 5:32 of ice time. He was also -1.

Patrice Bergeron went 17-11 in the faceoff circle.

The first line of Tyler Seguin-Milan Lucic-Nathan Horton looked really good tonight as they had many scoring chances.

Dennis Seidenberg led the Bruins in shots with 5.

Zdeno Chara and Seidenberg both had 5 blocked shots to lead the Bruins.

Johnny Boychuk led the Bruins in hits with 6.

Tonight's victory gives Claude Julien his 300th NHL career victory.

Onto the next one
The Bruins are now 2-3 this season. The Bruins next game is on Tuesday at 7pm ET, hosting the Carolina Hurricanes in Boston.

Friday, October 14, 2011

There's some not so good news on Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid. McQuaid is suffering from headaches and has neck pain from his injury in the game against Carolina where he fell awkwardly into the boards hitting his head. So the Bruins are treating his situation as if it's a concussion just to be safe. McQuaid will not play tomorrow against the Chicago Blackhawks. Defenseman Matt Bartkowski will get into the lineup and replace McQuaid.

"He's still day to day and we're taking a cautious route," Bruins coach Claude Julien told reporters after the club's practice Friday afternoon in Chicago. "We're handling as if it was a concussion, but he's feeling better every day, and if it is [a concussion] it's probably just a mild one. We're more concerned about his neck right now."

...

"He's still suffering some headaches," Julien said. "Right now a lot of it is neck pain, so it's hard to diagnose whether it's definitely a concussion or whether it's just a neck strain he suffered on that fall."Source

Another slow start. Another third period comeback attempt. Another loss for the Bruins as they fell 3-2 to the Carolina Hurricanes tonight.

With David Krejci out of the lineup with a "core" injury, Tyler Seguin moved to the first line at center with Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton. That line got better as the game went on and Seguin is looking comfortable out there on the ice. It's good to see him with confidence. The Bruins power-play would not help them tonight as it looked like the power-play from late last season, not getting it done.

No scoring happened in the first period. The Bruins went 0 for 2 on the power-play.

In the second period, Joni Pitkanen scored a power-play goal to make it 1-0 Hurricanes. The Bruins went 0 for 3 on the power-play.

In the third period, Anthony Stewart scored to make it 2-0 Hurricanes. Only 25 seconds after the Stewart goal, Seguin went to the outside with speed and roofed one past Cam Ward high glove short side to make it 2-1. What a shot that was by Seguin. You'll see that one on the highlight shows. That goal seemed to energize the Bruins and they would get some good chances after that goal. But Jiri Tlusty would score for Carolina to make it 3-1. Later, Brad Marchand scored his 2nd goal of the season to make it 3-2, one-timing a deflected pass from Patrice Bergeron off a Canes player's skate and past Ward. The Bruins would not be able to tie the game in the final minutes.

Scary moment in the third period, as Adam McQuaid lost his footing and fell awkwardly into the boards hitting the right side of his head. He wasn't able to get up for a few seconds and he crawled back towards the net to get back into the play, as the referee watched and didn't blow the whistle. When he did get to his feet, it looked like McQuaid was hooking Andrew Ference, possibly thinking Ference was a Hurricane player. When play stopped the Versus announcers said that McQuaid stood by Tim Thomas for a little bit before Zdeno Chara had to come by and help him to the bench. McQuaid would eventually go to the dressing room and not return to the game. We hope McQuaid is ok.

Game notes
The Hurricanes led the game in shots 34-28, faceoff wins 31-30 and in hits 15-12.

The Bruins power-play went 0 for 5 tonight.

Tim Thomas played in net and made 31 saves on 34 shots. Thomas is now 1-2 with a 2.02 GAA and a .933 save percentage.

Bergeron went 16-7 in the faceoff circle. Seguin went 7-9 in the faceoff circle.

Seguin led the Bruins in shots with 4.

Benoit Pouliot led the Bruins in hits with 4. I am not a fan of Pouliot at all but you got to give him credit as he's doing everything he can to help the team.

Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton both had 0 hits.

Onto the next one
The Bruins are now 1-3 this season. The Bruins next game is on Saturday at 8:30pm ET, at the Chicago Blackhawks.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Bruins forward David Krejci was injured in practice today and will not make the trip to Carolina for the game on Wednesday. Nobody is saying what the injury is but if he's not making the trip to get checked out about it, then it must not be minor.

My guess would be Tyler Seguin moving up onto the first line with Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton to try and get those two wingers going. You may also see Patrice Bergeron move up to the first line but I don't know if Claude Julien wants to break up that line of Bergeron-Brad Marchand-Rich Peverley because of the great hockey they've been playing together.

Update: Ty Anderson over at HockeyBuzz is saying that Krejci is out indefinitely with a knee injury. If that's true, that's really bad news for the Bruins.

Today the Bruins announced that they have re-signed forward Rich Peverley to a 3-year contract extension through the 2014-15 NHL season.

Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli on Peverley and the contract extension:

"Maybe we waited a little bit longer in signing some guys who are potential UFAs, but he's got speed, a good shot and he's still relatively young in the grander schemes. He's just a guy we wanted to have in our mix for the next four years.

Sometimes there's a fine line between the top six or seven or eight. We always felt he was in that mix before we got him. We liked the way he fit into our group. It doesn't necessarily mean he'll be in that top six for the rest of the year, but I like to think of our top three lines as three equal lines.

But I like his speed and I like his grit for his skill package, I like the way his speed backs up the D and I think he's made us a faster team.''Source

Update: Ty Anderson over at HockeyBuzz is saying that a no-trade clause was included with this contract extension. I don't know how I feel about that. I can see giving one to Bergeron and Chara but hopefully Peverley continues to impress.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask (40) of Finland keeps his eye on the puck as he protects the net against the Colorado Avalanche during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Boston, Monday, Oct. 10, 2011. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

These matinee games always seem to be bad for the Bruins. Similar to last season, this afternoon the Bruins didn't look like themselves in a 1pm early game taking on the Colorado Avalanche.

The Bruins started out slow and the young fast Avalanche took it to the Bruins but Tuukka Rask, in his first game action this season, looked strong and kept the Bruins in the game. The Bruins line of Patrice Bergeron-Brad Marchand-Rich Peverley looked like the best Bruins line out there and had the best chances to score. The first line of David Krejci-Milan Lucic-Nathan Horton woke up in the third period but it was too little too late.

No scoring would happen in the first and second periods. In the third period, veteran Milan Hejduk scored as he got inside position on David Krejci and put one by Rask. That was all of the scoring that would happen as the Bruins lose 1-0 to the Avs.

Game notes
The Bruins led the game in faceoff wins 30-19 and hits 32-24. The Avalanche led the game in shots 36-30.

The Bruins had the same lineup as the last game against the Lightning.

Tuukka Rask played in net for the first time this season, made 35 saves on 36 shots and was the Bruins best player today.

Patrice Bergeron led the Bruins in shots with 5.

Benoit Pouliot led the Bruins in hits with 5.

Gregory Campbell was the best Bruin player in the faceoff circle going 7-2.

Onto the next one
The Bruins are now 1-2 this season. The Bruins next game is on Wednesday at 7:30pm ET at the Carolina Hurricanes. Carolina is 0-2-1 after today's loss to the New Jersey Devils.

What to watch for against Carolina
Jussi Jokinen has already been called for 2 diving (unsportsmanlike conduct) penalties this season in only 3 games. Will he be flopping around? Probably. Too bad the game is on Versus because I would want to hear Jack Edwards yell "Get up!" after Jokinen dives. Keep your head up when Tuomo Ruutu is on the ice as he's the most likely Hurricane player to get Shanabanned/suspended for an illegal hit. Cam Ward has given up 8 goals in 2 games and backup Brian Boucher has given up 4 goals in 1 game. Jeff Skinner is not having a sophomore slump as he has started the season on fire, with 1 goal and 4 assists to lead the team with 5 points, but he is a -4. Will we see Milan Lucic vs Jay Harrison round 3?

On Sunday, members of the Boston Bruins spent their last day with the Stanley Cup by taking it to the Patriots-Jets game at Gillette Stadium for the coin flip before the game. Watch the video of their trip to Gillette Stadium.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

I meant to post about this before the season started but here we go now. Here's a list of the Bruins players this season and the salary they'll be making this season. The players are listed alphabetically. To get more info and a better look at the Bruins salary cap, take a look on CapGeek.com. The below numbers are from CapGeek.com.

Saturday, October 8, 2011

BOSTON, MA - OCTOBER 8: Players of the Boston Bruins celebrate a goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning at the TD Garden on October 8, 2011 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Brian Babineau/NHLI via Getty Images)

The Bruins rebounded from Thursday night's loss to the Flyers and beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1. Dwayne Roloson was not in net tonight as he played last night, so the Bruins faced backup Mathieu Garon who allowed some juicy rebounds. The Bruins made one mistake which cost them a goal but overall a much better game than the first one. Below is the scoring breakdown of the game.

No scoring happened in the first period.

In the second period, Rich Peverley scored his 1st goal of the season giving the Bruins a 1-0 lead. The Lightning came back only 1:16 later as Martin St. Louis scored on a breakaway on his friend Tim Thomas to tie the game. Then 1:38 later Bruins Daniel Paille scored his 1st goal of the season to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead.

In the third period, David Krejci scored his 1st goal of the season making it a 3-1 Bruins lead. Later, Peverley scored his 2nd goal of the game/season to make it 4-1.

Game notes
The Bruins led the game in shots 42-26 and hits 18-14. The Lightning led the game in faceoff wins 33-32. The Bruins went 0 for 5 on the power-play.

Jordan Caron and Matt Bartkowski were scratched and Benoit Pouliot and Adam McQuaid replaced them in the lineup.

Tim Thomas played in net and made 25 saves on 26 shots. Thomas is now 1-1 with a 1.51 GAA and a .945 save percentage.

Zdeno Chara, Rich Peverley and Tyler Seguin all had 5 shots on net apiece to lead the Bruins.

Brad Marchand and Seguin both had 2 assists apiece. Marchand and Seguin are both tied for the team lead in points with 3. Seguin has 3 assists, while Marchand has a goal and 2 assists so far this season.

Chara and Milan Lucic both led the Bruins with 3 hits apiece.

Onto the next one
The Bruins are now 1-1 this season. The Bruins next game is on Monday at 1pm ET, hosting the Colorado Avalanche in Boston. Colorado is playing their first game of the season tonight against the Detroit Red Wings.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Boston Bruins pose with the Stanley Cup and championship banner prior to facing the Philadelphia Flyers on opening night in an NHL hockey game in Boston, Thursday, Oct. 6, 2011. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Tonight was a special night that Bruins fans will not forget as another Stanley Cup championship banner was raised before the game against the Philadelphia Flyers. Before the game the Bruins players passed around the Stanley Cup to each other holding it up to the fans, something we couldn't see in Boston but watch on television from Vancouver so I thought that was cool. Later in the ceremony, Andrew Ference presented Mark Recchi the old Bruins jacket from last season. They would then bring out former Bruins to help the current Bruins raise the Stanley Cup banner.

The game would eventually start and the Bruins started strong. Brad Marchand would score the first goal of the season and give the Bruins a 1-0 lead. Tyler Seguin made a beautiful long pass and Marchand broke in and slipped one past goalie Bryzgalov. It was a power-play goal. The Flyers came back strong though and dominated late in the period and scored two quick goals before the end of the first period.

That would be all of the scoring in the game as the game would end 2-1.

Game notes
The Flyers led the game in shots 29-23. The Bruins led the game in faceoff wins 32-16 and hits 19-17.

The Bruins first line of Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Nathan Horton didn't look too good but it's only the first game. Marchand and Seguin both looked great and were the Bruins best players tonight.

Patrice Bergeron had a strong game in the faceoff circle going 10-2.

Tim Thomas made 27 saves on 29 shots.

Adam McQuaid and Benoit Pouliot were scratched for the game. Matt Bartkowski and Jordan Caron were in the lineup.

Onto the next one
The Bruins next game is on Saturday when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning at 7pm ET.

BOSTON, MA - OCTOBER 06: The Boston Bruins raise their 2011-11 Stanley Cup Championship Banner before the start of the home opener against the Philadelphia Flyers on October 6, 2011 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

If you aren't already pumped up for the start of hockey season and seeing the banner go up tonight in Boston, then these two videos will help you get pumped up and ready for the start of the 2011-2012 Bruins season. Props to Ty Anderson over at HockeyBuzz.com as he posted the first video in his blog post and I had to post it here as it's a great video and well put together.

The Bruins roster is now set and ready for Thursday night when they open the season against the Philadelphia Flyers. This won't be the same Flyers team that the Bruins swept in the playoffs as the Flyers have made numerous changes including acquiring a new starting goalie in Ilya Bryzgalov, trading away captain Mike Richards and sniper Jeff Carter. Now for the Bruins there haven't been many changes and they have their opening night roster set. Here's how the Bruins roster looks right now:

On Tuesday the players from the 2010-11 Boston Bruins Stanley Cup championship team got their rings and wow those are some nice rings. Check out the pictures below and NESN video of interviews with a few players and management.

Pictures

Tyler Seguin and Brad Marchand talking with the media with their rings, AP photo